Support
by Baxter54132
Summary: Kaori x Haruka one-shot collection. Just some random one-shots ranging from ridiculously light-hearted to horribly depressing.
1. Support

I seriously love Hibike! Euphonium so much. The characters are amazing and the show does a great job of tangling my emotions into one huge knot.

The closeness between Kaori and Haruka makes me so happy and I just had to write about it.

There are only 7 episodes as I'm writing this, but I'm going to assume the tournament is over, and the group did go to nationals.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hibike! Euphonium or any of its characters.

* * *

 _Dear Future President,_

 _First off, congratulations on your new position! Thank you so much for taking on the responsibility of being band president. I'm sure you've seen how difficult the job can be, so really thank you. I hope you find it rewarding._

 _-Haruka_

Haruka folds the note perfectly in half and places it on the wood desk she's sitting at. The desk creaks slightly from the weight shift, alerting the short haired teen sitting nearby. The two of them are alone in the classroom, a gentle stream of rain beating against the window as they relax together.

The trumpet section leader scrapes her desk across the ground lightly as she extends her arm to grab the note. The paper shuffles as she opens it and begins to read.

"Not good enough."

"Eh?" Haruka snaps her head to Kaori, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice.

The taller girl shakes her head slightly and pushes the note back towards Haruka. "You need more meat. Really explain to them the struggles of being president, and also any good things about it." Her voice fills with kindness as she speaks. "Maybe you could include something about how nice it feels when we all play in tune together for the first time."

To be honest, Haruka wouldn't be writing this note if not for Kaori's input on it. She suggested that the next president might get something out of a little helpful advice, and Haruka admits she would have benefitted if one of these was sitting on her desk at the start of the year. Hence the letter, but actually writing it is more difficult than she expected.

Haruka nods at Kaori's advice and raises her pencil to continue writing. She scribbles down a few sentences, then flops over in defeat, her chin settling into the crook of her left elbow. "This is hard."

Kaori chuckles lightly at the outburst. "After all that's happened this year, this is the hard thing?" Despite her teasing words, Kaori hunches over as well, placing herself on the opposite side of Haruka's desk. Her grin is half buried, but Haruka can still make it out and can't help but to smile back.

"It's all thanks to you, you know." Haruka reaches out tentatively with her free hand. She extends her pinky and loops it with Kaori's, fighting the embarrassed blush that tries to force itself onto her face.

Kaori accepts the contact happily, securing the connection. "Me? No way Haruka it was all you. All I did was play a solo and manage the money."

Haruka tries to shake her head, but it's muffled by the elbow she's buried in. "Every single day this year felt like a mess, but you were next to me every step of the way. Don't you remember when you came to visit me after Aoi quit?" Haruka's eyes shift to their connected pinkies as she continues. "That day, I was considering quitting the band, but your words, and well… just you being there, convinced me to stay. Ah er, I may have said too much." Haruka falls silent and moves to withdraw her hand.

As soon as their pinkies detach Kaori reaches out to fully grasp the escaping digits. "You had it in you all along, but I'm glad I was able to help." Kaori raises her second hand to fully grasp the one she's captured from Haruka. "You were amazing this year. When things started to get out of control you reminded the group what was important. You led us day after day. No one else could have done it, certainly not me." Kaori pauses for a moment. "Certainly not Asuka either, I know what you're thinking."

The two settle into a comfortable silence, three of their hands still intertwined in the center of the desk. A few moments pass and they're once again reminded of the rain pounding all around them. Haruka sits up to continue writing her letter, smiling apologetically at Haruka as she politely requests the freedom of her hand. "Only if you give it back later," is the playful response. Once released, she quickly scribbles down the remainder of the letter.

Once finished she slides the letter over once more, but starts talking before Kaori has a chance to open it. "Hey, now that all of this is over… do you want to get coffee sometime?" Haruka gulps deeply as the question escapes her lips and a shiver races down her spine.

"Coffee? Like a date?" Kaori hardly seems surprised by the question, which doesn't really shock Haruka. Kaori is a pretty confident trumpet player after all, she must get asked out all the time. Haruka nods nervously, and she reels a rush of relief when Kaori's face breaks out in a grin. She motions for Haruka's hand to be returned to her and the shorter teen complies. "I would love to, pick me up at eight?"

Haruka agrees and glances at her watch, realizing it's almost six pm. "If I'm going to be on time for that I should go." She stands slowly considering one of her hands is once again trapped in Kaori's tight grip. "Is it okay if I go?" She wiggles her fingers shyly.

Kaori stands up with her, but instead of releasing her tugs her forward gently. Haruka finds herself leaning over the desk and before she can comprehend the situation Kaori plants a chaste kiss on her left cheek. "I'll see you at eight."

* * *

 _Dear Future President,_

 _First off, congratulations on your new position! Thank you so much for taking on the responsibility of being band president. I'm sure you've seen how difficult the job can be, so really thank you._ _I hope you find it rewarding._ _There are a few things you should know about the job. First, it's extremely tough. Everyone has a different opinion, and probably you'll only agree with one of them. Regardless, you still need to make the band happy. This usually means you upset 49% of the group. However, once you get past these challenges being president is extremely rewarding. You get to tune the band and conduct during rehearsal. Everyone knows your name and is worried about you. You'll make your best and closest friends who will love and support you. Even if you have struggles they will help you every step of the way. I'm sure you will have an amazing time._

 _-Haruka_

* * *

So the last thing was the completed letter.

I wanted to write something that kind of fits the style of the anime. Not much happened here but they reminisced a little and planned a date. I hope you liked it, if not that's okay too.


	2. Concern

Hello again, so I'm turning this into a one-shot collection since I have way too many thoughts about this amazing ship.

This is from Kaori's POV

* * *

"I would like to quit the band."

Your blood runs cold as the words wash over the band. The valves on your trumpet seem unusually stiff when you press them down in frustration, and your mouth goes dry as Taki-sensei and Aoi continue to talk. Didn't she just say yesterday she would hold on until the competition? How could she do this to the band, and right in the middle of practice?

Yoshikawa starts whispering harshly to your right, and you pretend not to hear her harsh criticism as Aoi finally stands and boldly strides out of the classroom. Should you go after her? That would be the right thing to do. You have known each other for three years after all.

A first year who you're pretty sure is named Oumae beats you too it, and unsurprisingly Haruka is only two paces behind her. You try to catch Haruka's gaze as she exits, but her eyes are trained forward, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she disappears from sight.

You hear another bout of whispers as the door swings shut, but this time you turn to hush your chatty kouhai. Unfortunately more chatter breaks out, but Taki-sensei brings everyone back with a brisk tap of his finger on the podium. "Please focus everyone, you can gossip all you want once band practice is over."

The group falls silent and you take the opportunity to strain your ears towards the hallway. All you can hear is muffled voices that kind of sound like Aoi and Haruka, but really it's impossible to tell from within the classroom.

You want to go after them. Not for Aoi or that new student, but Haruka's sake. Haruka must be hurting so badly by all of this, and she even ran after Aoi to confront her in the hallway. She'll need a friend once everything settles down out there. Taki-sensei seems ready to return to playing, so you decide to go for it and raise your hand slowly to get his attention.

Suddenly, Asuka pops up out of her seat in front of you, effectively blocking your hand. "I'll go check on them. We do need them for practice after all," Asuka's voice is bubbly as usual, and though you're sure the taller teen is upset about Aoi leaving, it's hard to tell from her lack of concern towards the situation. Taki-sensei nods in agreement and you drop your hand back down to your trumpet. As long as someone's checking on them you suppose it doesn't need to be you.

You still wish you could have gone, but it only takes Asuka about 30 seconds to get Oumae and Haruka back into the practice hall. It probably would have taken you longer.

Haruka's eyes are still red and puffy from her cry session outside, and you fight the urge to walk over to the saxophone section and smother her with concern as she settles back into her seat. Taki-sensei ignores the unbalanced condition of his president, choosing to resume rehearsal.

Haruka glances over her shoulder and when her eyes meet yours you can tell things are far from settled. She forces a half warbled grin onto her face, and you do your best to send one back.

* * *

Alright that's all I've got. Everything I write for this fandom is so short I need to work on something a bit longer next time.


	3. Potatoes

Hi so yes I know it hasn't been long at all since I updated, but episode 9 happened…

* * *

Haruka begins searching for potatoes the second band gets out.

Her first guess is the supermarket, they're always stocked with a large assortment of produce even if it's out of season. That's what she tells herself anyway as she pumps the pedals on her bike as quickly as she can. Unfortunately, the store's lights are clicking off just as she rolls into the parking lot. She peers through the window in a less than eloquent manner in hopes of getting the owner's attention, but no such luck. Her next guess is a 24 hour mart, but they laugh in her face at what must sound like a ridiculous question. She doesn't even bother with the liquor place next door.

A defeated sigh slips through Haruka's lips as she slides off her bike to take a quick break next to the mart. Maybe she should just give up. It's not like she'll be much help to Kaori, she can't even find the one thing she knows the girl wants. Asuka would know just what to do and just what to say.

 _Asuka's not here._ Haruka mentally slaps herself, the image of Asuka sneering at her in the hallway filling her mind. Asuka doesn't matter right now, the most important thing is to find potatoes and get to Kaori. Haruka knows she should've talked with Kaori after rehearsal, but she didn't so she has to go now, her friend needs her.

Feeling slightly more determined, Haruka pulls out her phone and googles, 'potatoes near me'. Unfortunately the only place open past 8 is a local fast food joint, and they only have french fries. She supposes they'll have to be good enough.

* * *

It only takes Haruka 20 minutes to get the french fries and bike over to Kaori's house. However, once there she freezes on the porch, her recently attained bag clenched tightly in her grasp. Maybe she shouldn't have come after all, she doesn't even know what to say. What if all she does is make things worse? What if Kaori never wants to speak with her again after this? She wouldn't even know what to do if something like that happened… Haruka shakes her head and quickly rings the doorbell, though her doubts don't stop ringing in her head.

Haruka's inner reflection is finally cut off when Kaori's mother answers the door, and she quickly gets Haruka in the house and up to Kaori's room. Haruka quickly knocks when she gets there, not wanting a second wave of doubts to halt her progress. She feels a new wave of nerves when a soft voice calls for her to enter.

Haruka's not surprised to find Kaori's room almost completely dark when she enters; she did always enjoy sitting in calm and tranquil places. The trumpet section leader is curled up in something similar to the fetal position on her bed with one candle casting light shadows around the room.

"Haruka…" Kaori seems pleasantly surprised to see her friend entering her bedroom so late at night. "Sorry about the dark, you can turn the light on if you want."

Haruka shakes her head no, then realizes she probably can't be seen with this level of light. "No it's fine." She plops down onto the ground, her eyes trained on the girl still curled up above her. "Oh yeah… I brought you some potatoes." Haruka hoists up the bag that she almost forgot she was carrying. "They aren't the same as the ones you brought, but I hope they're still good."

"You didn't have to do to that," Kaori's lips curl up in a slight grin despite her words, much to Haruka's relief. She slides down to the floor in one fluid motion, crossing her legs to sit directly across from Haruka. A long shadow falls over her face from the candle light which gives her a very mysterious sort of look.

"Sure I did. I promised and I always keep my promises." Haruka fishes around in the bag a bit, forcing any loose fries back into one of the two containers she purchased earlier. She scoops them out carefully and passes one across her lap.

Kaori's face lights up when she realizes what kind of potatoes she's received. "These are perfect! Thanks so much for bringing them." She stuffs a few in her mouth, leaning back with a satisfied sigh.

"Ah no problem," Haruka shifts her eyes down on her own container. "I thought it might help after today."

"Today…" Kaori leans back slightly, "I'm just a little frustrated I guess. But I did make the competition group so I can't be too upset." Despite her words, Haruka can tell not getting the solo spot really shook up her long time friend.

"I think it's fine to be upset." Haruka forces her eyes up to Kaori's, making her voice as serious as she can manage. "You worked really hard for this, and you're… Well you're an amazing trumpet player."

Kaori smiles warmly at the compliment, but it slides off her face after a few seconds. She chews on a few more fries thoughtfully. "I guess it is a little disappointing." Kaori's head tilts down, her eyes staring straight into her lap. "I did try pretty hard." She sniffs once, and Haruka immediately regrets bringing it up.

"Hey are you okay?" Haruka shifts to her knees and leans towards her friend, subconsciously placing one hand onto her shoulder and dropping her fries. Kaori sniffs again, and now Haruka can clearly see tears dripping off her chin.

Oh no she made her cry. What kind of friend makes someone cry? Haruka's first instinct is to release Kaori and run out of the room, but something else, something deeper, tells her to draw her friend close and to never let go.

The second option sounds a tiny bit more logical, so Haruka scoots as close as she can and draws Kaori's head into her chest slowly, using her second hand to rub comforting circles onto her back. Kaori sniffles out a muffled apology as her tears continue to fall, but Haruka shushes her gently. "It's okay, it's good to cry about these things every once in a while." She continues stroking Kaori's back, and after a few minutes the two of them just sit there in complete silence. Maybe she should ask something again. "Er, are you okay?"

Kaori leans out of the embrace, and much to Haruka's relief she's smiling as she wipes her final tears from her eyes. "Yeah, thanks Haruka. I dunno what I'd do if I didn't have a great friend like you."

Haruka simply shrugs, instead choosing to pick up her previously neglected container of french fries. She eats one slowly, only chuckling when Kaori claims one for herself with a teasing grin.

She'll be okay.

* * *

Alright so this isn't some of my best work. Crying and emotional people aren't my forte.


	4. Taki-sensei is hot, don't you think?

Hi I'm back, thanks to everyone for your kind words!

This is inspired by the many many times people mentioned how cool / attractive they find Taki-sensei throughout the show.

* * *

Asuka hates people who don't have their lives together.

This could be referencing plans for the future or even just having their part prepared for sectionals that day. Sometimes Asuka can let it go, but in this case she's fed up. Every single day she has to come to band and see these two dance around each other like flies, it's so annoying. Fortunately they aren't in her section, but unfortunately they're her only two friends.

If they just got together then she could focus on her music and stop worrying about their ridiculous lives.

Not like this is an excuse to match make or anything. No she's just concerned, like any good friend would be.

* * *

Asuka finds her chance to strike when the three of them are alone in the trumpet sectional area. They're just finishing up a conversation about the band's bank balance, Kaori's the band's accountant after all. Everything is in order, so Asuka drops her question.

"Taki-sensei is pretty attractive, don't you think?"

Both of her friends respond basically how she expected. They both glance down, then at each other, but then quickly away in utter silence. Neither of them look very eager to answer the question, but Asuka has the patience to wait them out. She crosses her arms and grins sharply at the two teens who are acting kind of like third graders.

"You can admit it if you do, we're about to graduate after all." Asuka pitches her voice as sweetly as possible, but of course she knows why they won't respond.

Neither of them want to say they find him attractive, since it would be a lie. Why's it so hard to get people to admit that they're lesbians? Just fess up already it's not like the whole band hasn't already noticed.

Haruka's the first to speak, "Does it really matter?" Haruka's voice wavers slightly with her question and her eyes shift towards Kaori, but the taller teen has her gaze focused on the setting sun in the distance.

Asuka nods fervently, "Yes this is very important. I'm taking a poll, and of course the opinions of the president and trumpet section leader will be held in high regard."

Haruka falls silent again, her eyes cast down to her feet. Neither of them seem too convinced by the reasoning but hopefully they'll still answer.

Another twenty seconds pass in silence and Asuka starts to wonder if she overestimated the success of her plan. If they refuse to answer she'll have to come up with something else to get them to open up. Maybe inviting them to a water park or public bath. All that public changing who know what might happen.

"Not really…" it takes Asuka a moment to snap out of her daydream and realize that Kaori is the one who spoke, and she feels elated when Haruka nods and murmurs out an agreement.

"Yeah… he's a good conductor though."

Another second ticks by and Asuka waits patiently for the two seniors to figure out what they just agreed on.

She's not disappointed when their eyes suddenly snap towards each other and she can see the gears turning inside their heads. ' _Oh wow she doesn't find Taki-sensei attractive, neither do I but what does that even mean…'_ or something along those lines.

Unfortunately, they aren't ready to confess quite yet, and Haruka glances away shyly. The moment is over, but Asuka knows that she's planted the seed.

On to stage two.

* * *

This was another short one, but I had fun writing it.

There's no actual stage two I just think Asuka would have some elaborate plan to get them together.


End file.
